High-pressure synthesis of the BiVO3 perovskite

We report the high-pressure, high-temperature synthesis of BiVO₃, a cubic perovskite that thus far has remained inaccessible under ambient pressure conditions. This material was created at ~25 GPa and 1500 K in a laser-heated diamond-anvil cell and recovered it to ambient pressure and temperature. Our synthetic approach circumvents the oxidative chemistry that, at ambient pressures, previously rendered the cubic BiVO₃ perovskite inaccessible. We find through density-functional theory calculations that this material is a unique metallic and antiferromagnetic transition-metal oxide.